Heavy duty agricultural, earth moving and construction implements frequently are equipped with dual wheels on one or more axles thereof. In the case of agricultural implements, dual wheels may be required not only for weight considerations, but also for stability and the desired row spacing during certain operations such as ridge planting, row crop harvesting, harvesting in muddy fields, operating over a stubble-strewn field, and the like. Generally, such dual wheels and their tires are massive in size and weight, thereby creating difficult problems in the handling, mounting and dismounting thereof.
In a conventional wheel mount, the drive drums or flanges at the extremities of the axle of the implement are provided with a plurality of outwardly projecting studs or bolts arranged in a generally circular pattern. The hub of the wheel to be mounted is formed with an equal number of similarly arranged holes adapted to be positioned over the bolts. Nuts are tightened on the bolts to secure the operationally mounted wheel. In the case of dual wheels, the same bolts and nuts typically are employed to operationally mount both of the hubs of an associated pair of wheels. It is also known in the prior art to utilize various adaptors between dual wheels whereby the adaptor is first connected to the inner wheel and/or the axle drum and the outer wheel is then connected to the adaptor.
Frequently, it is desirable or necessary to mount and/or dismount only the outer wheel of the dual wheels. For example, when an agricultural implement is used for certain ridge planting or row harvesting operations, it can be desirable to mount the outer wheels since they are spaced a known distance from the inner wheels, which distance is related to the width of crop rows or furrows. On the other hand, when it is required that the implement travel over smooth roads, be transported by truck or trailer, or be parked in a limited space enclosure, it can become desirable or necessary to remove the outer one of the dual wheels.
Given the massiveness of the wheels typically used on larger agricultural equipment, repeated mounting and/or dismounting of the wheels is difficult and inconvenient, and may even result in damage to the implement. In this regard, it will be appreciated that removal of the nuts when dismounting the outer wheel in the conventional mounting arrangement also typically causes loosening and freeing of the inner wheel. All of the nuts must thereafter be re-applied and tightened in order to secure the inner wheel for further use of the implement. Additionally, removal and installation of wheels over the bolts can cause damage to the threads of the bolts. The use of adaptors is obviously not completely satisfactory because it adds to the number of parts, complexity, and cost of the wheel assembly.
Further, some previous constructions have required that both of the dual wheels be placed in an unloaded condition to permit loosening and/or removal of the mounting bolts to effect mounting or dismounting of the outer wheel. Naturally, this can further complicate the mounting procedure, since it becomes necessary to jack up the implement to relieve the load on the wheels. This procedure is not only time-consuming and inconvenient, it requires use of a suitably sized jack which may not be readily available in the field.
There thus exists a need for an arrangement which facilitates simple and efficient mounting and dismounting of dual wheels on large agricultural implements or the like.